In situ X-ray Raman spectroscopy of LiBH4

Abstract

X-Ray Raman Spectroscopy (XRS) is used to study the electronic properties of bulk lithium borohydride (LiBH4) and LiBH4 in porous carbon nano-composites (LiBH4/C) during dehydrogenation. The lithium (Li), boron (B) and carbon (C) K-edges are studied and compared with calculations of the starting material and intermediate compounds. Comparison of the B and C K-edge XRS spectra of the as-prepared samples with rehydrogenated samples shows that the B and C electronic structure is largely regained after rehydrogenation. Both Li and C K-edge spectra show that during dehydrogenation, part of the Li intercalates into the porous carbon. This study shows that XRS in combination with calculations is a promising tool to study the electronic properties of nano-crystalline light-weight materials for energy storage.